The Best Vegan Deodorant For Men And Women Reviewed – No, They’re Not The Same

* EDITED: Thanks to an astute reader, I’d like to update this post to include new information that I’ve come across. It appears that Revlon is sellling their products in China. Apparently, in China, companies are required by law to test cosmetics on animals so Revlon must be conducting testing on animals to fulfill their obligations to sell in the Chinese market. You can read more here. You’ll have to make your own determination as to whether you are willing to support Revlon. From what I’ve been able to gather, Revlon is still not conducting tests for their European or American markets.

Can you smell that? Yeah? That’s the smell of fresh flowers and spices and citruses from the underarms of vegan men and woman. And oh yeah, they’re not wearing any vegan deodorant. They’re not wearing any deodorant at all!

Just kidding. But only a little bit. In fact, I have found and their is research to back me up, that following a vegan diet makes your own natural body odours more pleasing to a panel of experts. Seriously, folks study this stuff and vegans smell better naturally, without any help of vegan antiperspirants and vegan deodorants.

However, we want to smell our best not only to attract ourselves to the opposite sex but just to fit in to normal society. I personally have found that my body odour is much less intense and unpleasant since I switched to a vegan diet all those many years ago.

Nevertheless, as much as we vegans need less body deodorant than the average omnivore we still might like to use it to smell even better and especially if we can’t always shower everyday.

But have you taken a walk down the deodorant isle lately at your local grocery store or drug store? There are hardly any vegan deodorants available unless you go to the health food or natural food’s section.

I was just there yesterday and this is what got me thinking to write about the top vegan deodorants available for both men and women.

There is Gillette who a while back I was under the impression had put a moratorium on animal testing. Today I just checked PeTA’s list of companies that DO test on animals and low and behind, Gillette is on there made by parent company Proctor and Gamble a big animal tester.

For a full list of PeTA’s companies that DO NOT test on animals you can check them out here.

Old Spic is also by P&G one of the biggest animal abusers in the beauty and body care product category.

Axe is by Unilever also one of the biggest animal abusers out there. There is also the cruel animal tester called Dial who make Right Guard amongst other products. Ladies often love Dove products. Dove is made by uberabuser Unilever and thankfully ladies don’t like animal abusers so ditch Dove gals. And let’s start getting a message to these unfeeling, insensitive animal abusers that abusing animals and testing on them for our beauty and body care products is not okay.

What I’m trying to get at, is that practically all the well known deodorants out there are made by companies who test on animals. There also isn’t really much choice. Likely 80% of the deodorants are made by uberabusers P&G or Unilever or Colgate Palmolive (makes Speed Stick) as you can see.

I could go on a political rant about this lack of choice in our so called “democracy” but anyway, this is about animal testing and finding good vegan body deodorants.

In fact, there was only ONE single deodorant that I could choose at my local grocery store when I went shopping yesterday and that was Mitchum made by Revlon. Revlon, that thank God for small mercies DOES NOT* test on animals.

However, I couldn’t find a Mitchum deodorant at my store. All they had were Mitchum antiperspirants, so if you’re looking for a vegan antiperspirant then Mitchum is likely your choice.

I personally don’t like antiperspirants, they clog your pours, and they do it with aluminum which has been associated with Alzheimer’s. I’m not willing to take that risk. From my lips to Revlon’s ears… make a plain cruelty free deodorant for men and women, and if you already do, make sure it’s in all the stores that carry your products.

Let’s take a look at my favourite vegan deodorants. First up is a crystal deodorant stone.

Thai crystal deodorant stone
This deodorant stone works very well as a natural deodorant. It doesn’t have any smell but what it does do is inhibit the growth of underarm bacteria that create the unpleasant smells that we are trying to mask or hide. If you are looking for a simple but effective deodorant stone to rid you of unpleasant underarm odour then this is it.

This vegan deodorant is applicable for both men and women. If you’ve never tried deodorant stones before then you’ll quite amazed at how well they actually work. I was sceptical before I used one. But honestly, they do eliminate unpleasant body odour.

I don’t use them often as I prefer to wear a scent in my vegan deodorants but if you just want something plain and unobtrusive this is it.

Best men’s vegan deodorant
Tom’s of Maine Natural Care Deodorant Woodspice. This one is my favourite smelling vegan deodorant for men.

It smells manly, musky and spicy just as you’d imagine. A mostly natural product that is NOT tested on animals, you could do worse then giving this one a try. Listen, it is not an antiperspirant so it will not stop you from sweating. But sweating is natural so learn to deal with it.

Here’s a tip for those of you who are worried about wet pits. Wear a thick white undershirt under your dress shirt. I do this, and I have never had sweat stains on my underarms. The key is to use an undershirt that is not super tight fitting. Find one that is a little loose.

Best women’s vegan deodorant
Tom’s of Maine Natural Deodorant Lemongrass. I find this to be the best vegan deodorant for women. You’d think Tom’s of Maine is sponsoring this blog post, but they’re not. They just have good vegan deodorants that I’ve been happy with.

I’m not saying that they’re a lot better than Jason Naturals or Nature’s Gate or some of the others. Just that they are the vegan deodorants I have leaned towards from both a physical feel – how the deodorant feels being rubbed on – as well as the scents.

Currently however, I am experimenting with finding and using different vegan deodorants too that are handcrafted and handmade.

I really love supporting the cottage industry and small businesses. As such, I’ve been exploring vegan deodorants that I’ve bought from Etsy. I’ve tried both the Mr. Boss and Stud deodorants from this business and I’ve been happy with them.

If you want to check out vegan deodorants on Etsy here’s the link. They’re not insanely more expensive than other vegan deodorants and when you look at it and how little we vegans need of our deodorants, well you might say they’re actually pretty cheap vegan deodorants. Besides, it’s for the animals. We don’t want to support the uberabusers right?

10 comments

  1. I tried Tom’s of Maine scented and unscented and do not protect me , at the end of the day is tough for me, I just became vegan about 6 months ago and its hard to find a good deodorant that protect me well..

    1. It can be tough to find a good deodorant. Perhaps you might have more success with the deodorant stone.

  2. Hi,

    I am VEGETARIAN and have been so for a year now. I don’t know if it’s because my lifestyle has changed (new job, very busy) but I sweat INTENSELY now and on top of that it REALLY stinks…I only sweat from the underarms where even if I’m in the office and the airconditioner is on you would be able to see sweat drip down from the armpits… I don’t think this has ever happened to me. I tried several crystal stone deodorants to NO avail, LUSH, BODYSHOP, and MADE OF ORGANICS brands…. I have to wash my arm pits several times a day to try to get the smell out.

    I think I will start a vegan diet, not just for the smell but for my principals as well. But is there any advice for me regarding this problem? It really ruins my time at the office when I’m nervous about people thinking I smell bad.

    I’m a very healthy, 5’6″, 52kg 26year old female.

    1. Hi Coco,

      I’m sorry you’re struggling with this difficulty. I think moving to a vegan diet is going to be a step in the right direction. When you think about it, what we eat, literally becomes us in short order.

      Getting rid of animal products such as dairy and eggs will likely be very beneficial for diminishing your body’s odor. Additionally, you might give additional consideration to foods that might give you a bit of gas and/or contain a lot of sulfur. If the problem still persists after a couple of weeks on a vegan diet then try eliminating some of the more pungent foods.

      By this I mean, try doing without spices, like currys, garlic and onions as well as any strong vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts that give you a bit of gas. Same with certain beans that might cause a little bit of gas.

      This should go a long way towards eradicating the problem. I’m not sure that the sweating is a by-product of your diet, but you could also be going through a cleansing as your body tries to eliminate many of the residual animal products you might have consumed. With that in mind, your possible detox as well as your strenuous job, make sure you’re getting plenty of water. You can tell by ensuring that your urine remains very pale yellow, almost clear throughout the day.

      I haven’t found a lot of information to do with the study of body odor and its causes. But Dr. Greger does a great job of some of the science in this video. The bottom line is even though your odor may be stronger than you’d like, it might nevertheless, be more pleasant.

      Regardless, I hope the above tips and moving to the vegan diet does the trick for you.

      Best,

      Jason

  3. Hi Jason
    I like your blog…however you say Revlon does not test on animals and that is not the case. They DO test on animals…they are even in PETAs list of companies that test. It is a shame as since finding out I have dropped their products that Ive used in the past. So my search for replacements continues. Just wanted to let you know so you dont mention them as a good company. Peace….
    Cris

    1. Good catch Cris,

      I’ve updated the post with the new (and disappointing info)

      Cheers,

      Jason

    1. Thank you for your comment Stephanie. I reiterate my position as posted above to Stephen.

      Fellow vegans will have to decide for themselves. I’m okay with ToM.

  4. I really enjoyed Tom’s of Maine, especially tea-tree.
    Until i broke out in brutal rashes wherever i applied it.
    Contagiously itchy pits, and being a highly-mobile area, it creates alot of friction, and continued to promote open sores. Had to abstain from using. Many “chemical free” vegan deodorants have plenty of seemingly-intricate ingredients, even if they are indeed natural.
    Nevertheless, stones and mineral salts work better in my experience… And im hardly even sensitive to harsh chemicals.

    Somretimes i honestly feel homemade mixtures can be best. Dry powders like baking soda or a local baby-powder like substance. Chalk in general.

    1. Thanks for your comment. Some folks are clearly more sensitive to others, and I think that in those cases perhaps homemade products are the best, as you’ve suggested 🙂

      I like tea tree oil, though I use it infrequently and only when I’m noticing a cold sore about to start, in that case dabbing at it with a cotton swab dosed in tea tree will usually eradicate the cold sore before it starts. I guess I’m lucky not to be overly sensitive to chemicals, that definitely makes it tougher for you.

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